Editorials
School Library Journal
K-Gr 2- Trite chapter titles in the form of questions are only the beginning of the problems with these simplistic volumes. Each of the four or five single-spread chapters contains four to seven large-font sentences opposite a full-page color photo. Vocabulary is so limited that in Tractors other large farm machines are called tools, while the brushes in Street Sweeper s "turn around and around." In Trains , freight cars are described as having "air holes for carrying animals." Almost every photo is from the Internet. Readers with any agricultural background will question some of the statements in Tractors . These machines do not plow fields; plows do that (and an outdated photo of such an implement will cause students in farming areas to laugh). While providing some protection for the driver, a tractor's cab is intended more for comfort than safety as stated in the text. A vehicle without a cab is described as having an outside seat, leaving readers to wonder, "outside of where?" Trains states that some railroad cars have their own engines, in contrast to locomotives, but no name or image is furnished for these other types of conveyances. The use of magnetic rails is mentioned but not explained. Sweepers implies that the driver sits in the cab while the controls operate the machine, and mentions that some sweepers spray water, but does not explain why. The only Web site listed in the books is that of the publisher. Not worth considering.-Eldon Younce, Harper Elementary School, KS